The Supreme Court of Tasmania was established by the Australian Courts Act 1828. Its jurisdiction and procedure are defined by a wide number of Acts. The personnel of the courts are the Chief Justice, The Hon William John Ellis Cox AC, RFD, ED and five other judges:

All judges are formally appointed by the Governor. To be eligible for appointment, a judge must have a minimum qualification of ten years experience in the practice of law and be over 35 years of age (Chalmers, 1992).

In 2002-03, some 72.4% of persons presented in the Supreme Court were convicted. This compares to 69.0% in the previous year and 74.8% in 2000-01. Of all people presented in the Supreme Court in 2002-03, 6.2% were acquitted, compared to 6.9% in the previous year. In 2000-01, this figure was 15.3%.

TASMANIAN SUPREME COURT, Criminal prosecutions

Persons presented

Persons convicted

Persons acquitted(a)

Persons discharged(b)

Years

no.

no.

no.

no.

1997-98

335

262

24

49

1998-99

505

401

(c)23

80

1999-2000

711

562

(d)45

103

2000-01

445

333

(e)68

(f)79

2001-02

462

319

32

111

2002-03

616

446

38

132

(a) A person is acquitted if the court declares that a not guilty verdict as a charge laid against a defendant has not been proven. This also includes a finding of not guilty on the grounds of insanity and unsoundness of mind at the time the defendant committed the offence.(b) A person is discharged when the court decides to withdraw an accusation of a crime or misdemeanour.(c) One person found unfit to plead.(d) One person found not guilty by reason of insanity and one person whose jury failed to reach a verdict.(e) One person found not guilty by reason of insanity and three persons to be retried.(f) One person deceased before trial.